Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures climbed to a 2-1/2-week high on Monday on hopes for a trade agreement between Washington and Beijing and after China vowed late last week to make additional U.S. soybean purchases. Wheat futures plunged around four per cent to fresh contract lows on technical selling and concerns about stiff […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans firm on trade hopes

Trump delays tariff hike on Chinese goods, citing trade talk progress
Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would delay an increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods thanks to “productive” trade talks and that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping would meet to seal a deal if progress continued. The announcement was the clearest sign yet that China and the U.S. […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs stumble on weak pork, trade unease
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell for a second straight day on Thursday as weak pork prices and nervousness about trade talks between the U.S. and China weighed on the market, traders and analysts said. Officials from both countries are meeting in Beijing this week to try to hammer out a deal […] Read more

U.S. grains: U.S. exports get no Valentine’s Day love
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains and soybean futures tumbled on Thursday on news that China and other buyers had canceled a flurry of U.S. soybean orders in early January and Argentina’s soy crop could be larger than previously expected, traders said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) export sales report […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle sink on lower beef, slowing demand
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures declined for a second straight session on Wednesday as lower beef prices and seasonally slowing demand for the red meat triggered profit-taking and technical selling, traders and analysts said. Traders are awaiting the next wave of cattle sales at U.S. Plains feedlot markets, but cash market bids […] Read more

ICE weekly outlook: Canola grinding lower
ICE Futures canola contracts held relatively steady during the week ended Wednesday, with a softer tone in old-crop contracts and strength in new-crop months. The general trend is likely pointed lower in the near future, with any developments in trade talks between the U.S. and China likely to provide some direction. “The market is awaiting […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat up, soy eases as China trade talks eyed
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures advanced on Wednesday for a fourth straight session as a pickup in export activity and firm cash markets spurred commodity fund buying, traders said. Corn was little changed and soybeans eased as traders waited to see if U.S.-China trade talks would show the two sides moving to end […] Read more

CBOT weekly outlook: All eyes on March 1 trade deadline
As high-level trade talks are underway in Beijing this week between the U.S. and China, commodity markets are watching carefully, said an analyst following the Chicago Board of Trade. “All eyes are on March 1,” said Steve Georgy of Allendale Inc. Should negotiators fail to make any progress toward resolving the U.S./China trade war, the […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures jump on U.S.-China trade hopes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures jumped more than two per cent on Tuesday in a second straight day of strong gains fueled by hopes that U.S.-China trade talks would revive Chinese demand for American pork, traders and analysts said. Bargain buying further propelled gains after benchmark April futures dropped for four straight […] Read more

Even as tariffs fall, new trade barriers arise
Protectionists don’t give up when their government signs a free trade deal
Reading Time: 4 minutes Donald Trump might not get his wall — but other invisible walls are going up around the world. “We’re in an era of protectionism, and in an era of protectionism, we have governments and regulators that are looking for any excuse to block trade,” said Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada. “So we can’t give […] Read more